Gaelic Kingdoms

Kingdoms of Caledonia

Kings of Dal Riada / Dál Riata (Gaels in Britain)

Natives of the Ulster region of
Ireland, the Dal Riada
Scotti came under pressure from the powerful Clan
Uí Neill, from whose ranks
were drawn the Irish high kings. From the latter end of the fifth century this
extended clan of Scotti migrated en masse to settle on the western coast
of Pictland, in the modern region
of Argyllshire. The area had been home to the Epidii tribe during the
Roman
period, but the newcomers quickly founded their own kingdom, settling Dunadd
as their capital.

Dal Riadan control thereafter expanded in a piecemeal fashion, with stops
and starts as they were alternately made vassals of the Picts or became
their overlords. Perthshire fell to them first, then Lothian, after which,
hemmed into the south by the powerful
Northumbrians,
they turned north, gaining Mar and entering the Highlands. This was the heartland
of the Pictish kingdom, and it was here that they faced their stiffest opposition.
It was a furious battle, much of which has been lost to history, and one that they
looked like losing until disaster befell the Picts in 839. The Scotti were
now in command of all of Pictland and they would gradually to create the modern
country of Scotland.

The origins of the Dal Riada are fairly obscure in that they lie in Ireland's
mythological period. However, this is late enough that a certain amount of truth
may be included in the stories. Deda mac Sin was the legendary founder of the
Clanna Dedad, the royal family of the Erainn people of the
Munster region of southern Ireland.
The later Síl Conairi (or Sil Chonairi or Conaire, meaning 'Seed of Conaire')
were septs of the Erainn which descended from Clanna Dedad via High King
Conaire Mór (from 63 BC), son of Eterscél Mór and a descendant of Deda mac Sin.
These septs were the
Corcu Baiscind (or Corcu Baiscinn),
Corcu Duibne,
Dál Riata, and
Múscraige,
all of which were claimed to descend from Connaire Cóem, king of Munster in the
second century AD.

St Columba, a descendant of the high kings of
Ireland,
follows in the footsteps of the Irish Scotti to spread the
Celtic Church
into Dál Riata and Northern
Pictland.
Arriving with twelve companions, he is granted land on Iona where he founds a
monastery in order to introduce the Picts along the western coast to
Christianity. Visiting the king, he wins his respect and subsequently plays
a major role not just in winning converts for the church but also as a
diplomat.

573

The Dál Riatans are defeated in battle against the powerful King Brudei of the Northern
Picts.

Báetán mac Cairill of the Ulaid
is said to force the king of Dál Riata to pay homage to him at Rinn Seimne
on Islandmagee, near Larne in modern County Antrim. This may take place in
574 or early 575, making the king in question Áedán mac Gabráin. Ulster
sources also say that Báetán collects tribute from Scotland. Urged by
Columba, an alliance is formed by his enemies, Áed mac Ainmuirech of the
Northern Uí Neill and Áedán mac Gabráin.

It was entirely possible for a powerful king such as Báetán mac
Cairill of the Ulaid to collect tribute from 'Scotland' in the
sixth century (or more accurately, the Dál Riata colonies), but
'Scotland' as a name didn't exist until at least the tenth
century, showing that a later hand was behind some of the
writing in the annals

c.582

Llywarch
Hen of South Rheged
counts Ynys Manau as part of his holdings.
However, towards the later years of his reign, the Annals of Ulster record
an expedition by the Ulaid
(in the form of Báetán mac Cairill) to Ynys Manau. Báetán returns to
Ireland in 578 after
having imposed his authority on the island - temporarily as it transpires. Shortly
after his death, in 582 the island is taken by the Dál Riata Scotti under Áedán mac
Gabráin and may be ruled by a client king or lesser member of the ruling family.
As Sennylt ap Dingat's family appear to retain their position, it must be they
who become the client kings.

Aedan invades the Anglian kingdom of
Bernicia and attacks King
Æthelfrith at the Battle of Degsastan. By fighting and defeating Dál Riata,
Æthelfrith secures the alliance of Dál Riata's enemies, the southern
Picts. His northern
flank is now safe and he turns his attention south and west.

607

Cineadh Cerr
(Kenneth the Left Handed)

Son of Conall mac
Comgall? Ruled for three months.

608 - 620?

Echoid Find mac Aedan
/ Eochaid Buide

Son of Aedan mac Gabrán.

620? - 623?

Kenneth mac Conall

Son of Conall mac Comgall?

623? - 629?

Ferchar? (Fergus) mac Cu?

Son of Cineadh Cerr.

627

Cineadh Cerr (otherwise shown as Connad Cerr), king of Dál Riata in 607, may
also be joint king with Echoid Find mac Aedan in the 620s, during which time
the Dál Riata are clients of the Cenél Conaill clan of the
Northern Ui Neill
in Ireland. He is named
as king of Dál Riata in this year when at Ard Corann he defeats Fiachnae mac
Demmáin, king of Ulaid.

629/630

Cineadh Cerr is killed along with two descendants of Aedan mac Gabrán at Fid
Eóin, fighting against the
Cruithne of Dál nAraidi
led by Máel Caích. The Annals of Ulster show the battle in 629 while
the Annals of Tigernach have it in 630, although both of them place
it before the death of Eochaid Buide. The Book of Ballymote contains
an entry that associates Cineadh's descendants with 'the men of Fife', meaning
the Picts with whom the
Dál Riata are slowly becoming integrated.

High King Domnall mac Aedo is confronted again in
Ireland by Congal Cáech
and the Ulaid, who are allied
to Dál Riata's Domnall Brecc, and also by the Cenél nEógain of Tír Eoghain (a junior
line of Ailech until the twelfth century). With Domnall are the Síl nÁedo Sláine,
the clan of former High King Aed Sláine mac Diarmato of the
Southern Uí Neill.
Congal Cáech is killed at the subsequent Battle of Mag Rath (Moira in County
Down), which is a decisive victory for Domnall mac Aedo.

The seaborne Battle of Sailtír (which lies off the coast of Kintyre) takes
place on the very same day, between Domnall's vessels under the command of
his nephew, Conall Cóel mac Máele Cobo, and ships belonging to the Cenél
nEógain and Dál Riata. Again the high king's forces win the day, and the
Dál Riata seem to lose their lands in County Antrim as a result of the
defeat.

638

Unable to recover from the events of c.597, the Annals
of Ulster note pithily 'the battle of Glenn Muiresan and the besieging of
Eten' of the Guotodin.
No more is mentioned, not even the outcome of the battle. The monks on Iona
record that the attacker is Domnal Brecc, and defeat for the
Britons is clearly
implied as the battle leads to the siege. Din Eidyn apparently falls to
Oswald of Bernicia (soon
afterwards, it seems).

642

The death of Oswald of
Bernicia possibly sparks a
contest between the northern powers for control of the Firth of Forth and
the former Guotodin
lands. Owen of Alt Clut
and Domnal Brec fight at Strathcarron, to the east of Din Eidyn, with the
Irish king being killed and Owen claiming his throne.

The kingdom temporarily
collapses and three Cenéla dissolve into at least seven families.

732

Mordacus / Muredach

Possibly claimed the throne for a short time.

732 - 734

High King Flaithbbertach mac Loingsig of
Ireland is regularly
opposed by another king of the Northern Uí Neill, Aed Allán mac Fergal, king
of Ailech. In 732,
Flaithbbertach is defeated by Aed in battle and his cousin, Flann Gohan mac
Congaile, is killed. A rematch takes place the following year, and another
cousin is killed, Conaing mac Congaile.

Aed is reportedly allied to the
Ulaid and the
Ciannachta of Glenn Geimin
in 734, when he inflicts yet another defeat on the high king in Mag nÍtha.
Flaithbbertach is forced to appeal to the navy of the Dál Riata for help but
at the mouth of the Bann their fleet is destroyed. According to a less
reliable account (in the Annals of the Four Masters), their men still
help Flaithbbertach's forces to win the day.

The line of descent of
Pictish kings is broken when the Pictish army is destroyed and Eoganan is killed by Vikings.
Pictland eventually merges
with Dal Riada through intermarriage to become Scotland,
although a few Picts still appear to rule the North for a time.

839 - 850

Kinet (Kenneth) I mac Alpin

First king of Alba (Scotland).

843

Kenneth rules from Scone
(Fortriu, modern Forteviot), capital of the Southern
Picts.

850

After killing the
final Pictish ruler (an event known as McAlpin's Treason), Kenneth rules
Pictland
and unites most of the country, a feat which is extended to cover all
Scotland by subsequent kings.

Kings
of ScotlandAD 850 - 1603

It would be several centuries before Scotland would have permanently-defined
borders. Until then its king was more generally known as the 'King of the
Scots', and the southern border fluctuated across the Scottish Lowlands.
Large areas of the west and the northern coastline were still under the rule
of various Scandinavian and Norse-Gaelic rulers, many of Viking origin.

The House of Alpin retained the Pictish custom of passing the crown down
through matrilineal descent. In modern lists, Constantine I is used for the
Pictish
Constantine mac Fergus (789-820).

King
Haraldr Hárfagri campaigns across the seas to hunt down those opponents who
had fled
Norway in opposition to his unification of the country. They have been
raiding Norway's coast since then, causing considerable damage. Haraldr has
been carrying out regular summer expeditions against them, but around this
year, having tired of simply chasing them away, he pursues them to their
western bases.

His forces storm the islands of Hjaltland (Shetland) and clear them of
hostile Vikings. Then he does the same on the Orkneys, plunders the Sudreys
(Hebrides), chases down Vikings across Scotland, and finds that Vikings on
the Isle of Man
have fled before him. As compensation for the death in battle of Ivar, son
of Jarl Ragnvald of Møre, Haraldr gives Ragnvald the Orkney and Shetland Isles. He
in turn hands them to Sigurd, his brother, who remains there to govern them.

The grand alliance including the Scots, Northumbrian Danes at
York,
Dublin Danes,
and the Welsh of Gwynedd and
Cumbria, mass their forces north of the Humber
in a bold attempt to destroy Æthelstan of
Wessex. The plan fails, however, when the
West Saxons and Mercians of the south destroy the alliance at the
Battle of Brunanburh in 937.

Malcolm is usually credited with being the ruler who finally subdues
Strathclyde and appends it to the
Scottish crown. The exact date is unknown.

House of Atholl

The reign of Duncan mac Crinan, grandson of Malcolm II, is littered with
defeats and poor rule as the king is defeated by his own people and by the
English. In a vain
attempt to restore his prestige, Duncan engaged on a Royal Progress through
the land of Moray, where MacBeth was sub-king. This proved to be a grave
error of judgement as MacBeth and his men rose up and kill Duncan at
Pitgaveny.

MacBeth and the disgruntled men of Moray rise up and
defeat the discredited Duncan, killing him on 14 August 1040 at Bothngouane
(now Pitgaveny) near Elgin.

House of Alpin

MacBeth, at the head of the disgruntled men of Moray, rose up and defeated
the discredited Duncan, killing him on 14 August 1040 at Bothngouane (now
Pitgaveny) near Elgin. MacBeth was a good and strong king; a far cry from
the evil villain portrayed in Shakespeare's work of fiction, reigning for a
long seventeen years.

1040 - 1057

Macbeth
/ Mac Bethad mac Findláich

Grandson-in-law of Kenneth III. Killed by Malcolm III.

1046

Siward, earl of
Northumbria and
former father-in-law to Duncan, succeeds in momentarily expelling MacBeth
from Lothian, and briefly installing Duncan's brother Maldred on the
Scottish throne. MacBeth swiftly recovers his lost lands.

1054

Siward and Malcolm Ceann Mor set off on a campaign to defeat
MacBeth. They do so at Dunsinnen, wresting Lothian and possibly Strathclyde from
him, but they fail to depose him. Ceann Mor is set up as Malcolm III, at least of
Cumbria (Strathclyde),
a client king of the
English.

1057

Malcolm Ceann Mor defeats and kills MacBeth at Lumphanon.
Lulach, MacBeth's stepson, becomes king. He reigns for just seven months
before being slain by Malcolm.

1057 - 1058

Lulach

Step-son of Macbeth. Reigned for seven months. Killed.

House of Atholl (Canmore)AD 1058 - 1292

The twenty-eight year break in the rule of the House of
Atholl was ended when Malcolm
Canmore gained the throne of Scotland. The son of Duncan, Malcolm was viewed
by some as the rightful king of Scotland during the reign of Macbeth, and it
is this conflict that supplied the core of Shakespeare's inaccurate but
dramatic play in the late sixteenth century. In 1054, a campaign by Siward,
earl of Northumbria,
and Malcom secured Cumbria
(Strathclyde)
for the latter, where he ruled as a client king of the
English. In
1057, as Shakespeare says, he certainly did kill MacBeth, and seven months
later he also killed MacBeth's successor, Lulach, a fact not mentioned in
the play.

Malcolm's nickname was Ceann Mor, Anglicised as Canmore. The first part,
'ceann', means 'head' or 'chief', while the second part means 'great' (and
certainly not 'big', which is a mistaken translation that is sometimes
repeated). The word has a shared origin with the
Welsh form of
'great', 'mawr', which was applied to several late Welsh kings (notably the
ninth century Rhodri Mawr). It could also have been the meaning behind the
name of Mor ap Ceneu, supposedly a king
'Northern Britain' in the
mid-fifth century AD, showing that the eleventh century Scots version of
the word was unchanged from its Brythonic origins while the Welsh version
had undergone considerable change.

(Additional information by Edward Dawson, and from the Annals of
Inisfallen (a medieval chronicle of Ireland), and External Link:
Rampant Scotland.)

The
Norman
invasion of England
forces Margaret of Wessex (later known as St Margaret, or Margaret of
Scotland) to flee to the court of Malcolm III. She is the sister of Edgar
the Atheling, Anglo-Saxon king in name only after the death of Harold
Godwinson at Hastings. About four years later, Malcolm marries her and the
royal couple become parents to three later kings and five other children.
Margaret introduces more court ceremony and also founds Dunfermline Abbey.

Malcolm Ceann Mor and his second wife, Margaret sister of
Edgar the Atheling, ruled a Scotland that was coalescing
into a single kingdom, one which would enjoy relative
unity for as long as the House of Atholl survived

1071

The large
number of English exiles
who have gathered at his court and raids by Malcolm into
Northumberland and Cumbria
(Strathclyde) became
a concern to King William who marches north. Malcolm is forced to submit and sign
the Treaty of Abernethy in 1071, agreeing to his son, Duncan, becoming a hostage
in England. Even so, Malcolm makes two more raids into England in 1079.

1091 - 1093

Another raid across the border by Malcolm in 1091 ends in defeat, and again
he has to submit to the English
king. It seems that the English finally drive out the Scots from their hold
on Cumbria (Strathclyde)
immediately after this. Malcolm leads a final incursion in 1093 which leads
to his defeat at Alnwick by Robert de Mowbray, earl of
Northumberland and his
death at the hands of Arkil Morel. His son and heir, Edward, dies in the
same battle and Queen Margaret dies in Edinburgh Castle, four days later.

1093 - 1094

Donald
III Bane / Donalbane / Domnall Bán

Brother. Deposed.

1094

Malcom's son Duncan by his first wife invades the kingdom at the head of a
mixed army of
Northumbrians and
Anglo-Normans.
He is supported by Gospatric, former earl of Northumbria and by his own
half-brother Edmund. Together they succeed in seizing the throne for Duncan
III.

1094

Duncan II
/ Donnchad

Son of Malcolm III. Murdered.

1094

An uprising forces Duncan to send his foreign troops home. Now relatively
defenceless, Duncan himself is murdered by Máel Petair of Mearns. The act is
possibly instigated by Donald III and Edmund, at least according to the
Annals of Ireland, and certainly the now-elderly Donald benefits from
it, being able to regain the throne.

1094 - 1097

Donald
III Bane / Donalbane / Domnall Bán

Restored. Killed or blinded, but sources differ.

1098 - 1107

Edgar
/ Étgar 'Probus' / 'the Valiant'

Son of Malcolm III, the first of those by Margaret of
Scotland.

1107

When
Edgar dies, his brother David becomes king of southern Scotland (below the
line of the Forth and Clyde, incorporating much of the ancient kingdoms of
Alt Clut and
Guotodin). His
brother, Alexander, is unhappy at this arrangement but David has more knights
than him with which to defend his inheritance. What's more, Henry I of
England has
already given David the 'Honour of Huntingdon' (country manors in eleven
counties), having also made him prince of Cumbria (echoing the role of
Malcolm Canmore in the rule of Cumbria), and has married him to a widowed
heiress of
Northumberland.

Alexander
inaugurates the construction of Scone Abbey on the ancient site at which
Scottish kings have always been crowned. Archaeological work uncovers a
massive encircling ditch around the Moot Hill, the actual site of coronation.
The hill itself is at least partially man-made.

1124 - 1153

David I
mac Maíl Coluim 'the Saint'

Brother. King in the South until 1124.

1133

A
Norman invasion
from England
forces King Thorkell to flee Dublin
and Ireland altogether for
the safety of the Scottish Highlands. In Scotland itself, King David invites
large numbers of Normans to settle, build Norman castles, help him control
some of the worst in-fighting amongst the lords, and help turn Scotland into
a flourishing, multi-ethnic European kingdom.

c.1134

Although it had been founded as a small settlement in the eleventh century,
Roxburgh, near Kelso on the Scottish Borders, and nestling on the banks of
the River Teviot, catches the special attention of King David. Choosing
it as his powerbase, he gives the town a royal charter, and builds a
castle there. Main roads, houses and shops are added, along with several
churches, all within a great defensive embankment that protects the city on
the only side that is not defended by water. Most of the king's great
charters are issued from Roxburgh. It is the Edinburgh of its day, becoming
one of the wealthiest cities in Scotland, and one of its four main urban
centres, along with Berwick, Stirling and Edinburgh itself. Its location is
ideal to exploit the Scottish-held trading port at Berwick. Today, only a
few scant remains of its castle survive.

1139

The title of earl of
Northumberland falls vacant until Stephen of
England is
pressured into appointing a new earl by King David. David's son, Henry of
Scotland, is selected for the position, signifying Scotland's strong role
in the region at this time. Henry is also the father of the future Malcolm
IV, a monarch who suffers from poor health and dies at the age of twenty-four.

Malcolm's brother is William 'of Scotland', earl of
Northumberland. He
is now deprived of his title and lands by the powerful Henry II of
England.
The title remains in the king's hands until it is purchased by Hugh de
Puiset, bishop of Durham in 1189, sold by Richard I who is keen to raise
funds for his Crusade.

1165 - 1214

William
I 'the Lion'

Brother.

1174 - 1175

William the Lion is so-named for his mane of red hair and a headstrong
attitude (although the epithet is also applied thanks to the later
chronicler, John of Fordun, who refers to him as the 'lion of Justice',
thanks to his personal standard, a red lion rampant on a yellow field). He
spends a considerable amount of effort trying to regain his lost earldom of
Northumberland, and
now becomes involved in a rebellion against Henry II of
England
that is known as the Revolt of 1173-1174. At the Battle of Alnwick,
while supporting a raid against Henry's forces, William is captured and
imprisoned. His release is only gained in 1175 when he acknowledges Henry
as his feudal lord in the Treaty of Falaise.

1214 - 1249

Alexander II

Son. Died of fever in the Hebrides.

1215 - 1217

The
barons of
Northumberland and York
pay homage to Alexander during the First Barons' War of
England.
The Scottish involvement of the war ends when their
French
allies are defeated in Kent. At the same time, in 1215, the inveterate
enemies of the Scottish crown, the clans Meic Uilleim and MacHeths, rise up
and are put down by loyalists.

The First Barons' War in England saw a collection of the
powerful baronial class rise up against King John, determined to
force him to abide by Magna Carta but weakening their own cause
by accepting support from France

1226

The
Isle of Man passes from
the overlordship of the Scandinavian crown to that of the Scottish crown.
The old Viking territories are gradally being conquered by the Scottish
crown during its creation of a single Scots state.

1249

Alexander II dies during an expedition to recover the Hebrides from Haakon
IV of
Norway.
His son accedes as Alexander III at the age of eight. Two years later, he is
married to Margaret, the daughter of Henry III of
England.
The union ensures that there is little conflict between the two countries
for a generation.

1249 - 1286

Alexander III

Son of Alexander II by his second wife. Died in an accident.

1263

Alexander successfully defeats an invasion by Haakon of
Norway
at the Battle of Largs in 1263 (the 'Last Viking Invasion' of the British
Isles). Following this, the Treaty of Perth transfers the Hebrides and the
Isle of Man to Scotland from Norway.
From this point the Isle of Man is controlled directly from either Scotland
or England,
as the two nations vie for power. As part of the peace-making, Alexander's
daughter marries Haakon's grandson, Eric II. Their daughter Margaret later
becomes queen of Scotland.

The
'First Interregnum' in Scotland is usually measured from the point of Margaret's
death in 1290, but the date of Alexander's death in 1286 is also sometimes used.
The difference revolves around the acceptance or otherwise of whether Margaret
is officially queen, despite being uncrowned. The recognition by the
Scottish parliament of her as queen would suggest that she should be accepted,
whether crowned or not. Her death marks the end of the House of Atholl as there
are no further living descendants. Instead, with the threat of dynastic war
looming over the country, Scotland is governed by guardians while the
English
king, Edward I, is invited to adjudicate over the succession. With no one to
stand in his way, he also becomes Scotland's overlord.

1290 - 1292

William Fraser

Guardian of Scotland. Bishop of St Andrews. Died 1297.

1290 - 1292

Robert Wishart

Guardian of Scotland. Bishop of Glasgow. Died 1302.

1290 - 1292

John II Comyn 'the Black'

Guardian of Scotland. Lord of Badenoch.

1290 - 1292

James Stewart

Guardian of Scotland. Fifth High Steward of Scotland.

1292

A great feudal
court is held at Berwick-upon-Tweed on 17 November 1292, during which John Balliol wins
the vote. He is supported by John Comyn, guardian of Scotland, and his brother-in-law
(among many others). The rival claiment is Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale,
supported by James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland. John Balliol is therefore
appointed king of Scotland by his
overlord, Edward I of
England.

House of BalliolAD 1292 - 1296

John Balliol had been one of the main contenders for the
vacant Scottish throne in 1290, along with Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of
Annandale (grandfather to the better-known Robert the Bruce). His claim was
not necessarily the superior one in terms of proximity to the royal family, as
he was the great-great-great-grandson of David I on his mother's side, one
generation further removed from Robert's own claim, but he was closer in
terms of primogeniture. When it came to the great feudal court that was held
at Berwick-upon-Tweed on 17 November 1292, he won the vote. He was supported
by John Comyn, guardian of Scotland and his brother-in-law (among many
others who also supported him). Robert was supported by James Stewart,
5th High Steward of Scotland. John Balliol was therefore appointed king
of Scotland by his overlord, Edward I of
England.

Unfortunately for John, King Edward treated him very much as a vassal, diminishing
his authority and overruling him constantly. The Scottish nobles soon tired of
this, and of their compromised king, and began to take the governance of the
country into their own hands, further undermining the king's position. When
they appointed a council of twelve, effectively a new panel of guardians,
Edward invaded, kick-starting the Wars of Succession.

1292 - 1296

John Balliol

Fifth lineal descendant of David I. Abdicated. Died 1315.

1295

On 5 July Scotland and
France
form an alliance, the origin of their 'Auld Alliance', against
England.
One of the former guardians of Scotland, Bishop William Fraser of St
Andrews, is included in the party that visits France to secure the alliance.

1296 - 1297

Edward I of England
invades following the formation of a council of twelve to manage the country
outside the king's authority. The Scots are defeated at Dunbar in April 1296
and John Balliol formally abdicates on 10 July 1296. The 'Second Interregnum'
follows, during which Edward I again rules Scotland directly. John is
imprisoned in the Tower of London until allowed to leave for
France
in 1299. Rebellion flares up in Scotland, first with Robert Wishart and James
Stewart, former guardians of Scotland (which ends in surrender to the
English at Irvine), and then in the form of William Wallace.
Initially he wins a great deal of support in some quarters and is victorious
against an unwary English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.

1297 - 1298

Sir William Wallace

Guardian of Scotland. Defeated, captured, and executed.

1298

William Wallace suffers defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298. A much
later source, composed some decades after the event, states that John Comyn III arrives
at the battlefield in support of Wallace, but with the intention of abandoning
the Scottish army when Wallace most needs him (this act is depicted in the film,
Braveheart, when Comyn leads his mounted force away at the height of the
battle). The truth of it is highly uncertain. Thanks to the defeat, Wallace is
forced to relinquish the guardianship of Scotland to Robert the Bruce and Sir
John Comyn of Badenoch.

Defeat at the Battle of Falkirk effectively ended William
Wallace's rebellion, although he did continue some guerrilla
actions for time

1298 - 1300

Robert the Bruce

Joint guardian of Scotland. Earl of Carrick.

1298 - 1300

Sir John Comyn III of Badenoch

Nephew of Balliol. Joint guardian of Scotland. 'Red Comyn'.

1298 - 1306

In
1302, in his attempts to suppress William Wallace and claimant to the throne Robert
the Bruce during the Scottish Wars of Independence, Edward I builds a fortress at
Linlithgow. In 1305 William Wallace is captured and is subsequently hanged, drawn and
quartered by the English
at Smithfield, London.

1299 - 1301

William Lamberton

Guardian of Scotland. Bishop of St Andrews. Died 1328.

1300 - 1301

Sir Ingram de Umfraville

Guardian of Scotland.

1301

William Lamberton returns to
France
to exercise his influence on the sympathetic King Philip IV, while the
changeable (some would say pragmatic) Sir Ingram resigns. This leaves
John de Soules as sole guardian, possible appointed by John Balliol
himself, as the figurehead of the general movement to restore him to the
throne (at least, the movement exists in name and general sentiment, but the
convoluted nature of Scottish politics means that the Bruce faction is also
vying for control, even while potentially paying lip service to the Balliol
cause). When de Soules leaves for France on a diplomatic mission, Sir John
Comyn takes over, even though de Soules nominally retains his position as
guardian.

1301 - 1304

John de Soules

Guardian of Scotland. Died 1310.

1302 - 1304

Sir John Comyn III of Badenoch

Guardian of Scotland for second time. Killed by Robert
in 1306.

1303 - 1304

Sir John Comyn and Sir Simon Fraser defeat the English at the Battle of
Roslin, near Edinburgh, in February 1303. The victory is a hard-fought one,
but it is merely another stage in the power politics of Scotland. Comyn is
soon sidelined and reduced to a bit-part figure, despite his virtually
untouched stronghold north of the Firth of Forth and his ability to raise
large numbers of fighting men. With an invasion by Edward I of
England
threatened, one which promises to engulf Forth, Comyn is forced to enter
peace negotiations in 1304, part of which include a promise to hand over
William Wallace, should he come into Comyn's hands (although the validity of
the promise is not put to the test).

1305

King Edward I of England
appoints his nephew, John of Brittany,
as guardian of Scotland. The second son of Duke John II of Brittany, John
wholeheartedly shares Edward's aims when it comes to expanding the size and
influence of the English kingdom. He is trusted by the English court as a
diplomat and negotiator, and his term of office as guardian witnesses no
major upsets.

1305 - 1307

John of Brittany

Guardian of Scotland. Earl of Richmond. Died 1334.

1306

With John Comyn dead, Robert the Bruce is now the only serious contender for
the throne. Despite being excommunicated for murdering Comyn, Robert is
still crowned in 1306 as the independent king of Scotland.

House of BruceAD 1306 - 1371

The period between the enforced abdication of John Balliol
in 1296 and the accession of Robert Bruce in 1306 was one of domination by King
Edward I of England,
the 'Hammer of the Scots'. Several Scottish rebellions flared up, most notably
those by William Wallace and Andrew Moray in 1297 under the claim that John Balliol
had been unfairly forced from the throne and remained the rightful king. Balliol,
however, had accepted exile in
France,
in the custody of
Pope Boniface
VIII. He was released from this in 1301, but only to move to his ancestral estates
in Picardy, where he remained for the rest of his life. The Scots received no support
or encouragement from him after 1302.

Robert the Bruce, son of the earl of Carrick, emerged as the favourite to
lead the Scots out of English control. He sided with Edward I during the
abdication of John Balliol, but switched sides during the revolt of
William Wallace. In 1298 he succeeded Wallace as guardian of Scotland,
alongside his co-guardian, Sir John Comyn of Badenoch. As a relative of John
Balliol, John Comyn was a potential rival for the throne, so Robert killed
him during one of many arguments, this time in a church in Dumfries a few
weeks before Robert was due to be crowned. This act earned him excommunication
from Pope Clement V and the status of outlaw from Edward I, but it did not prevent
him from becoming the independent king of Scotland in 1306.

At the very start of his reign, Robert is defeated by the
English
at the Battle of Methven. He takes refuge at Strathfillan, where he is
surprised by the English in August. His wife, daughter and sisters are imprisoned,
and three of his brothers are executed by the English. Robert flees westwards to
the Antrim coast, at his lowest point (which is where the sixteenth century
story of Robert drawing inspiration from a persistent spider mending its web
in a cave originates). The death of his implacable enemy, Edward I, in 1307
helps him recover his position. Robert begins to wage a very effective
guerrilla war against the English, establishing control north of the Firth
of Forth.

1314

The
defeat of Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn on 24 June by Robert
sees the start of a period in which the certainty of Scottish independence
from England
becomes more and more firmly established. The drawing-up of the Declaration of
Arbroath in 1320 involves
Pope
John XXII in negotiations after the Scottish earls, barons and other nobles
write to him declaring that they recognise Robert as their true king.

The Battle of Bannockburn by William Hole, part of a mural in
three sections, from the Scottish National Portrait Museum in
Edinburgh showing Robert the Bruce in the foreground

1316 - 1318

Robert's brother, Edward, is inaugurated as high king of
Ireland, increasing the
pressure on the English.
The Bruce family have direct maternal links to Brian Boru of early eleventh
century Munster and are
therefore valid candidates to rule Ireland as well. However, Edward's death in
battle in 1318, ends Scottish involvement there. In Scotland itself, although
Robert captures Berwick in the same year, Edward II refuses to relinquish his
claim as overlord of the country.

1324 - 1326

The Pope
recognises Robert as king of an independent Scotland. Two years later, the
Franco-Scottish alliance is renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil, by which the
Scots are obliged to make war on
England
should hostilities break out between England and
France.

1327 - 1328

Edward II of
England is
deposed, and the following year the English sign the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton,
in which England renounces its claim to Scotland. The following year, Robert
the Bruce dies and his young son succeeds him, with the support of a
guardian or regent of Scotland. The post of guardian is fraught with danger,
however, and none of the incumbents during David's infancy last very long.

1329 - 1371

David II

Son. Aged 4 at accession. Died childless.

1329 - 1332

Sir Thomas Randolph

Guardian of Scotland. First Earl of Moray. Died.

1332

Donald

Second guardian. Earl of Mar. Killed at Dupplin Moor.

1332 - 1333

Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell

Third guardian. Brother-in-law of Robert the Bruce. Captured.

1332 - 1342

The English
attempt to take advantage of the king's young age by promoting Edward
Balliol as a rival claimant to the Scottish throne. Balliol is crowned king
of Scotland by the English and his Scots supporters. After less than a year
in Scotland, he is forced to flee to England, but he returns in 1333 with an
invasion force.

1332

Edward Balliol

Son of John Balliol. Rival claimant in Aug-Dec 1332.

1333

Archibald Douglas 'the Tyneman'

Fourth guardian. Killed at Halidon Hill.

1333

David is defeated at the Battle of Halidon Hill (near Berwick) and flees to
France.
His nephew, Robert the Steward, takes over governance of the country as
'Guardian of Scotland' until the king deems it safe to return in 1341.
Edward Balliol is 'restored' as king following the
English
victory, and immediately cedes Lothian to the English king.

Edward Balliol is deposed yet again by those loyal to King David, and any
realistic hope he might have of ruling Scotland is ended with the return of
the true king in 1341.

1346

King Edward III of
England crushes
the army of Philip of
France
at the Battle of Crecy. The seventeen year-old King David decides to invade
England in support of his French allies, but he is defeated and captured at
the Battle of Neville's Cross, near Durham, on 17 October. He is imprisoned
by the English for eleven long years, during which time Robert the Steward
governs Scotland in his name. Edward Balliol takes the opportunity of raising
an insurrection in Galloway, but although he manages to take his forces into
the heart of Scotland, he wins no support there and the attempt fades to nothing.

1346 - 1357

Robert the Steward

Governed again in the king's name during his imprisonment.

1357

On 3 October 1357, the Scots agree to the terms of the Treaty of Berwick,
paying an enormous ransom of 100,000 merks for the release of King David. He
returns to Scotland but heavy taxation is needed to provide funds for the
ransom, which is to be paid in instalments. David further alienates his
subjects by using the money for his own purposes.

1371

Having attempted to remove his nephew from the line of succession in favour
of King Edward III of
England, David
dies childless. Despite his attempts, Robert the Steward is still crowned as his
successor, initiating the Stewart
dynasty.

House of StewartAD 1371 - 1707

Robert II was the son of Walter Stewart and Marjorie, daughter of Robert the
Bruce. Born on 2 March 1316 at Paisley, he gained the Scottish throne on 22
February 1371, at the age of fifty-four. His accession essentially did the
same service for Scotland as the
Tudor accession
did for England, ending a series of debilitating and destructive wars for
the throne. The new Stewart dynasty bore the name of Robert's ancestor, a
former high steward of the palace under David I in the twelfth century. The
title of steward became the family name of Stewart (a common medieval
occurrence and the source of a great many modern surnames). On his mother's
side, Robert was directly descended from King David via Robert the Bruce,
giving his claim to the throne its legitimacy.

Robert himself served twice as guardian of Scotland following the defeat and exile
of King David II in 1333, and upon the king's death Robert was crowned his
successor. His accession was far from universally welcomed, however. Many of
the nobles saw him as a step down from the usual kingly candidate, given his
family origins as little more than servants. Robert was not a strong
king, which is what the country direly needed, so before long his son took
over much of the day-to-day governance of the country in an attempt to
restore law and order. Few of the Stewart kings lived long and happy lives,
though. Many were victims of the internecine quarrelling of the Scots
themselves.

A truce with England
in 1384 is short-lived, mostly thanks to Robert refusing to recognise it,
and the border wars continue. Now the Scots under James Douglas win a victory
at the Battle of Otterburn, near Newcastle, defeating Henry Percy 'Hotspur'
of the newly-created duchy of
Northumberland.

1390

Robert II dies peacefully at Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire at the
impressive age of seventy-four. He is buried at Scone Abbey and succeeded
by his son, John, who takes the reignal name Robert III to avoid the
potential bad omen of a name that was used by the hated John Balliol.

Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire was built by Robert in 1371, and he
died there nineteen years later, one of the few Stewart kings to
die peacefully

1390 - 1406

Robert III

Son.

1402

Beset by internal problems, from the internecine quarrelling of the
Highlanders to the powerful lords of the isles, Robert now faces an invasion
of the lowlands by Henry IV of
England. The
Scots are defeated twice, at the battles of Nesbit Moor and Humbleton Hill
(or Homildon Hill), and Henry seizes Edinburgh, albeit briefly.

1406

Robert suffers a riding accident which disables him, and his eldest son
David is killed, probably by Robert's brother, the duke of Albany. Robert
sends his ten year-old second son, James, to safety in
France
but his vessel is captured near Flamborough Head and he is taken prisoner by
the English.
The sad news may hasten Robert's death in the same year.

1406 - 1424

With Robert dead, James is now the rightful king of Scotland, but he remains
imprisoned in the Tower of London by the
English
until 1424. In his absence, his uncle, Robert, duke of Albany, governs
Scotland, making little effort to secure the king's release in the hope that
one of his own sons can assume the throne. A ransom of 60,000 marks is
eventually promised for the release of James so that he can return home to
be crowned at Scone. Part of this amount is defaulted by James himself.
(Unusually for these pages, the regent is shown before the monarch, as
Robert ruled without even the pretence of being able, or wanting, to consult
the king.)

1406 - 1424

Robert of Albany

Brother and regent in the absence of James I.

1406 - 1437

James I

Son of Robert III. Murdered.

1411

Highland and Lowland Scots clash at 'Red Harlaw' in Aberdeenshire on 24 July
1411, one of the bloodiest battles in Scottish history. Known more officially
as the Battle of Harlaw, it is one of a series of clashes between the clans
of the north-east and those of the western coast as they vie for supremacy.

1437

Having been spending large amounts on Linlithgow Palace and luxuries for the
court, James has stoked discontent amongst the nobles. Supporters of Walter,
lord of Atholl, the son of Robert III's second marriage (and therefore
James' half-brother), assassinate the king in the Friars Preachers Dominican
Monastery at Perth. He is aged just forty-two.

1437 - 1460

James II

Son. Aged 6 at accession.

1437 - 1439

Joan Beaufort

Mother and regent. Removed from her office.

1437 - 1439

Archibald Douglas

Earl of Douglas and regent. Died of fever.

1439

With the death of Archibald Douglas, Scotland is suffering a lack of senior
members of the nobility so three younger regents are appointed in Sir
William Crichton, Sir Alexander Livingstone, and James Douglas. Livingstone
immediately takes advantage of his new position to have Queen Joan and her
new husband placed under house arrest. They are only released the following
year once they agree to hand over all power and control to Livingstone.

1439 - 1449?

Sir William Crichton

Lord chancellor and regent.

1439 - 1449?

Sir Alexander Livingstone

Regent.

1439 - 1443

James Douglas

Earl of Avondale and regent.

1440

The power-sharing triumvirate of Sir William Crichton, Sir Alexander
Livingstone, and James Douglas conspire to break the power of the earls of
Douglas. They summon the current earl, William Douglas, and his brother
David to Edinburgh Castle. The young men face trumped-up charges, and are
summarily beheaded. The event is known as the 'Black Dinner', and the
Douglas title and lands pass to James Douglas who is consequently seen as
the lead perpetrator of the crime.

1446

Construction
begins on Rosslyn Chapel. It is intended to be one of over thirty-seven
collegiate churches to be built during the reigns of the first four King
James, between 1406-1513.

1449 - 1452

James comes of age in 1449, and the Douglases use the event as an excuse to
kick the Livingstone faction out of power, with the king's support. Over the
next three years, James attempts to curb the power of the Douglases,
culminating in the murder of Lord Douglas at Stirling Castle on 22 February
1452. He finds himself in a situation of intermittent civil war as he
struggles for authority in Scotland.

1460

The twenty-nine year-old James besieges Roxburgh which is in the hands of
the English.
James has a large army and iron canon that have been newly imported from
Flanders. But when he is standing nearby one of those canon on 3 August, it
kills him when it explodes instead of sending a salute
to his arriving queen.

A romantic view of Roxburgh Castle, once one of Scotland's four
great cities, but seen in this 1920 print in the sixteenth or
seventeenth century, by which time the former city had virtually
disappeared

1460 - 1488

James III

Son of James II. Aged 8 at accession. Murdered.

1460 - 1463

Mary of Guelders

Mother and regent. Died.

1463

The regency of Mary of Guelders, mother of James III, is replaced by a dual
regency under James Kennedy, bishop of St Andrews, and Gilbert, First Lord
Kennedy.

1463 - 1465

James Kennedy

Bishop of St Andrews and regent.

1463 - 1465

Gilbert

Lord Kennedy. Regent.

1466

After conspiring with his brother, Sir Alexander Boyd, the unscrupulous
Robert Boyd, First Lord Boyd, manoeuvres himself into the position of regent
for the young king. An act of parliament makes him the sole 'Governor of the
Realm'. He quickly secures the king's sister, Mary, in marriage for Thomas,
his eldest son. James regards the match as an insult, but for the moment is
not in a position to oppose it.

1466 - 1469

Robert

Lord Boyd. Regent. Died 1482.

1472

The weak and unpopular James marries Margaret of Denmark, a union that is
negotiated by the even more unpopular and self-aggrandising Boyd faction at
court. Her dowry includes Orkney and Shetland, so these are handed over by the
Danish crown to Scotland, while the annual fee for the Western Isles is
also ended. But the power of the Boyds themselves has already been broken by
the king.

1482

One of Scotland's four great cities, Berwick, is finally ceded to the occupying
English.
James is forced to withdrawn his trade from the city, as the tax will no longer
go to him. This is probably the tipping point in the fortunes of one of the
other great cities, Roxburgh. Although it had risen to greatness in the days
of David I, it suffered badly during the wars of Edward I, and the main reason
for its existence has now been lost. Roxburgh gradually becomes a ghost town
that crumbles away and is lost to history by the early 1600s, until archaeologists
pinpoint its main features in 2004.

1488

Rebellious nobles, disaffected by James' bisexuality and his weak rule, call
for his son to replace him on the throne. James' supporters are defeated at
the Battle of Sauchieburn on 11 June (near Bannockburn) and James is
deposed. He flees to Milltown where he is stabbed to death by a man dressed
as a priest.

1488 - 1513

James IV

Son. Aged 15. Adopted the thistle as the Stewart emblem.

1493

James takes the title 'Lord of the Isles', a minor kingship in its own
right, during the anarchic period in the Highlands following the death of
the last MacDonald lord of the Isles.

1502 - 1503

Scotland and
England agree a
'perpetual peace' when James and Henry VII come to terms. The following
year, James marries Henry's daughter, Margaret Tudor, laying the basis for
eventual union between the two crowns.

1513

James takes full advantage of the fact that Henry VIII is campaigning in
France
and his wife, Isabella, is governing
England in his
name. Encouraged by the French, James invades England, but Isabella sends an
army north. The two forces meet at Flodden and the Scots are annihilated,
with around 10,000 casualties, including James himself. This makes him the
last British monarch to die in battle.

1513 - 1542

James V

Son. Aged 1 at accession.

1513 - 1514

Margaret Tudor

Mother and regent. Died 1541

1514 - 1524

John Stewart

Duke of Albany. Regent and second in line to the throne.

1528

With Protestantism on the rise across Europe and
England, the staunchly
Catholic James remains unbending when it comes to dealing with heretics. One
of the leading Protestant reformers is Patrick Hamilton, and he is burned at
the stake in St Andrews.

1541 - 1542

The death of his mother, Margaret Tudor, removes James' adherence to the
'perpetual peace' with
England, and
when invited he fails to meet Henry VIII at York. Instead, he mobilises his
army and prepares to invade England but his army is defeated at Solway Moss
on the Scottish borders in 1542. The news of the defeat is a powerful blow,
and he dies just six days after his daughter is born.

1542 - 1567

Mary
(Queen of Scots)

Dau of James V
by 2nd wife. Executed: Fotheringay (1587).

1547

In the last battle between
English and Scottish
royal armies, the Scots are routed at Pinkie, Edinburgh, on 10 September. The
battle is triggered by the uncle and Royal Protector of Edward VI, Edward
Seymour, as he attempts to impose Anglican reform north of the border and force
the infant Mary Queen of Scots to marry Edward. Mary is smuggled to
France.

1558

Still in France,
and now perhaps as much a Frenchwomen as she is a Scot after living there
for the greater part of her life, Mary marries Francis, son of King Henry II,
in Paris on 24 April 1558. She also adopts the French spelling of Stuart
for her surname. Francis becomes king the following year, albeit briefly.

1559 - 1560

Scone Abbey is sacked and burned by an angry mob at the height of the Reformation.
The following year, the parliament legislates for the Protestant reform of
the church in Scotland. Latin mass is forbidden. In addition, the Treaty of
Edinburgh between
France
and England
recognises the sovereignty of Mary and her husband.

The gates of Scone Abbey survived in this form until 2010, when
a white van driver rammed through them, destroying all of the
bridging stonework

1561 - 1565

The recently-widowed Mary returns to Scotland from
France,
landing at Leith. Although she is still a Catholic, the country is
Protestant following the reforms of John Knox. Her initial governance of a
difficult country is successful, but her French-styled extravagance at court is not.
In 1565, under pressure from the nobility to marry, she agrees to an
ill-judged alliance with her second cousin, Henry, Lord Darnley. He is
manipulated by her enemies into leading a bunch of conspirators to murder of
her secretary, David Rizzio, in front of her eyes.

1566 - 1567

Mary gives birth to Darnley's son, James Stuart, in June 1566, but the
turbulent marriage is generally a disaster. When Darnley is found murdered
at Kirk o'Field near Edinburgh on 10 February 1567, Mary is largely believed
to be complicit in the crime. In the same year she remarries, to the earl of
Bothwell, possibly Darnley's murderer. The Scottish lords quickly imprison
her in Loch Leven Castle where she abdicates in favour of her son. The earl
of Mar is appointed regent (not that Mary has any choice in the matter).

1567 - 1625

James VI

Son of Mary by her second husband.

1567 - 1570

James Stewart

Earl of Moray & Mar. Regent. Assassinated.

1568

Mary escapes from Loch Leven Castle but her supporters (the 'Queen's party')
are defeated near Glasgow, at the Battle of Langside. She flees to
England where
she believes she will be protected and supported by her cousin, Elizabeth
Tudor. Instead she is imprisoned at Fotheringay Castle, a political
embarrassment to both kingdoms.

1570 - 1571

Mathew Stewart

Earl of Lennox. Regent. Shot dead in skirmish
with Queen's party.

1571 - 1572

John Erskine

Earl of Mar. Regent. Died of natural causes.

1572 - 1578

James Douglas

Earl of Morton. Regent. Resigned due to
opposition from nobility.

1603

With the death of Elizabeth Tudor,
her cousin, James VI of Scotland, is now also king of
England. He is
one of Elizabeth's closest living relatives, thanks to the marriage between
James IV and Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England. The Scottish
royal court moves to London, and the two kingdoms are ruled from there.
Despite this, Scotland continues to have its own judicial system, along with
similarly independent educational and religious institutions.

The Scots defeat Charles I
Stuart in the
Second Bishops' War, and the king is forced to recall
Parliament, which
becomes known as the Long Parliament.

1642 - 1651

Charles Stuart
raises his standard, declaring war on a
Parliament which is
determined to force a confrontation. In 1645 the Royalists are routed at the
Battle of Philiphaugh, defeating Charles' cause in Scotland.

1649 - 1653

Oliver Cromwell supports the execution of the king in January 1649, and
leads an army to crush the Irish
in August of the same year. In 1650, he also crushes Scotland with
his highly efficient New Model Army. In 1653, he dissolves
Parliament and by
the end of the year has assumed the role of Lord Protector of the
Commonwealth.

Richard Cromwell, entirely unsuited to his role as lord protector, abdicates in
1659. Negotiations with Charles II are opened, and the restored king returns to
Britain. The body of Oliver Cromwell, buried in Westminster Abbey, is exhumed by
Charles' supporters and hanged on the scaffold at Tyburn (near modern day Marble
Arch in London). It is later cut down and beheaded, with the body probably being
dumped in a nearby pit. The embalmed head is eventually removed from a spike and
passes from owner to owner until it is reburied at Sidney Sussex College in
Cambridge in 1960. Charles II returns from the
Netherlands
on his birthday to reclaim the throne, along with his
Portuguese wife, Catherine of Braganza. The
EnglishParliament
proclaims him king of England on 8 May 1660.

Feeling against the blatantly anti-Protestant James II of
England
and VII of Scotland flares up when his second wife, Mary of Modena, gives birth
to a Catholic heir (commonly believed to be a changeling). His brother-in-law,
William of Orange, lands in Britain with a
Dutch army. The disaffected British army goes over to him, and a bloodless
takeover is effected with the support of the British people, named the Glorious
Revolution. James flees London for
France
on 11 December, and by this act is deemed to have abdicated. He and his
supporters continue to hold a claim to the thrones of England, Scotland, and
Ireland for decades to come,
but most of the significant Scottish nobles support William. The Jacobite
pretenders to the throne are shown below with a shaded background.

Scottish settlers make landfall in
Panama,
establishing the ill-fated
'Darien
Venture' colony. The project is an ambitious one, and is backed
financially by almost every Scottish landowner, many of whom are bankrupted
when it fails. This disaster, along with the threat of an invasion by the
English
under William of Orange, persuades Scotland's nobles to support a formal
union with England.

The Darien Venture colony was based around a Panamanian isthmus
which was heavily forested both then and now

1701 - 1707

James VIII (III) Francis 'Old Pretender'

<
p class="klText">Son of James II.
Prince of Wales. Involved
in 1716 rebellion.

1707

The
Union of the crowns of
England
and Scotland is enacted, ending the separate rule of a nominally independent
Scotland by the Stuarts and instead merging the two crowns into one. The claim
to the throne by the Jacobite Stuarts continues to be upheld, and attempts are
made to pursue that claim, starting in 1708.

Early Modern ScotlandAD 1707 - 1837

The union of the crowns of
England
and Scotland was enacted in 1707, establishing in fact a union that had
existed in name since 1603 (albeit with the countries having their own
parliaments and laws). The idea had been recommended by William III, but it
took a while to get it through, and it was only during the reign of Queen
Anne that it was finally ratified. Primarily, perhaps, it was seen as a
method of preventing the possibility of Scotland going its own way, especially
as within a few years the Scottish Parliament would refuse to endorse the
Hanoverian succession.

The joint kingdoms were governed from a single
Parliament at
Westminster in London. In the year following union, in 1708, an attempted invasion of
Scotland by James Francis Stuart at the Firth of Forth was defeated at sea.
The Jacobite pretenders to the English and Scottish thrones are shown with a
shaded background.

Having lost a vote to repeal the union with
England in
1713, the Jacobites rise in the First Jacobite Rebellion in support of James
Edward Francis Stuart, the 'Old Pretender'. Seeking to overthrow George I,
they want to replace him with James III. A force of about 10,000 is
assembled, mostly made up of Highlanders, and this marches southwards after
some delays which allow the Crown time to assemble a response.
Reinforcements of 2,000 men are defeated at the Battle of Preston on 15
November 1715, and the main force fights the duke of Argyll's smaller force
of 3,500 at Sheriffmuir on 13 November. The outcome is indecisive, but this,
along with the defeat at Preston, is enough to herald the rebellion's
collapse.

1745 - 1746

Bonnie
Prince Charlie lands at Eriskay in the Hebrides, Scotland, to lay claim to the
British throne.
Fighting in his still-living father's name, he raises his standard at Glenfinnan,
Scotland on 19 August, igniting the Second Jacobite Rebellion. On 21 September,
his Jacobite forces defeat English forces at the Battle of Prestonpans, but in
December the future Landgrave Frederick II of
Hessen-Kassel
lands on the Scottish coast with 6,000 troops to support his father-in-law,
George II.

The following year, in 1746, in the last battle fought on British soil, the
Jacobites are routed by the duke of Cumberland at Culloden. The Jacobite cause
effective dies, but Charles Edward's claim is passed on, first through his
brother, Henry, in 1788, and then the
Savoyard kings of
Sardinia
from 1807.

The Battle of Culloden saw the destruction of the clans in
Scotland at the hands of Britain's modern army

1752

Britain
switches from the outdated Julian calendar to the Gregorian one, 'losing'
twelve days in the process and moving the start of the year from 25 March
to 1 January (except for the tax office, which refuses to budge, up to and
including the present day).

1763

The first
Tory and first Scottish-born MP to hold office in
Parliament,
the earl of Bute's eleven month term of office ends the Seven Years' War
against
France.
Unpopular because he is a Scot at a time when the Jacobite Rebellion is
still fresh in people's minds, he resigns after a spate of verbal and
physical attacks upon his person.

1766 - 1788

Charles III Edward 'Young Pretender'

Son of James Francis Stuart. Also 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'.

1788 - 1807

Henry I (IX) Benedict Cardinal Stuart

Son of James Francis Stuart. Last Jacobite claimant to
throne.

1807

With
the death of the unmarried Henry, the Jacobite claim for the
English and
Scottish thrones (or at least the Scottish throne) effectively dies.
Although his successors have a technical claim, none of them attempt to
enforce it. Next in line to take up the claim is the
Savoyard
King Charles Emanuel IV of
Sardinia,
a descendant of Charles I of England and Scotland through Henrietta Anne,
the latter king's youngest daughter. Henrietta Anne's daughter, Anne Marie
of Orleans, had married King Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia.

Formed as a union of the kingdoms of
Pictland and
Dal Riada, modern Scotland
forms the northern third or so of Great Britain, covering territory between
Berwick-upon-Tweed on the east coast and Gretna on the west coast, and
heading northwards into the Highlands. It also includes over seven hundred
islands, along with the Northern Isles, the Western Isles, and the Hebrides.
Its capital, and the base for Scotland's modern devolved regional
parliament, is Edinburgh, a city founded by the
CelticBritons of the
Votadini tribe almost two
thousand years ago.

The advent of the House of
Saxe-Coburg, created as a result of the marriage between Queen Victoria
and Prince Albert, could be said to be a starting point for modern Scotland.
The period not only ended the reign of the
Hanoverians,
which had been somewhat contentious in the eyes of the Highlanders, but triggered
a wave of innovation and technological progress that created modern
Britain
as a whole during the Industrial Revolution.

Despite no longer laying a claim to the Scottish throne, the Jacobite successors
of the dispossessed 'Bonny' Prince Charlie still have a technical claim made for
them by their supporters, and as such these claimants are shown with a shaded
background. Reignal numbering for all claimants is shown for Scotland first,
followed by England in parenthesis, with numbering continuing from the
Stuart period
and ignoring any later legitimate monarchs of England and Scotland.

1840

With
the death of Maria Beatrice of
Savoy,
the title of Jacobite Stuart claimant to the
English
throne passes first to her son, Francis, duke of Modena, and then to her
daughter, Maria Theresia of Austria-Este, queen consort of Ludwig III of
Bavaria. Thereafter it remains with the Bavarian Wittelsbachs.

Having jointly guaranteed in 1839 to support the
neutrality of
Belgium, when the country is invaded by
Germany,
Britain
and all its territories and colonies (including
Canada),
France
and
Russia are forced to declare war at midnight on 4 August. The First
World War lasts for just over four years, until 1918. A ceasefire is agreed
with the remnants of the
Austro-Hungarian empire by British, French, and
Italian
forces on 3 November. Germany, now alone, sees its emperor abdicate on 9
November, and an armistice is agreed to come into effect on the eleventh
hour of 11 November, signalling the end of the war, although many less
widespread wars continue as a result of the upheavals caused by it.

Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, is still overlooked by
the Castle Rock upon which sits Edinburgh Castle, a fortress
which has existed in this form since the sixteenth century

1922

Despite expectations of prosperity in Scotland's
industrial heartland, mostly based around the shipbuilding industry,
depression hits the economy. Scotland suffers years of stagnation and high
unemployment which does not start to ease until the mid-thirties.

The Nazi
German invasion of
Poland
on 1 September is the trigger for the Second World War. With both
France
and Britain, under
Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain, pledged to support Poland, both countries have no option
but to declare war on 3 September.

1945

Following the end of the war, Scotland suffers badly again from a poor
economic condition. Competition from other countries for its traditional
manufacturing services is now intense and decline sets in, only to be eased
and eventually reversed in the 1990s.

1953

Some elements of Scottish society takes umbrage at one specific detail of
the impending coronation of Elizabeth
Windsor. As
there has never been an Elizabeth I of Scotland, there could hardly be an
Elizabeth II now. The rector of the University of Glasgow, John MacCormick
launches a legal challenge against Elizabeth's right to use 'the second' in
Scotland, but this fails. It is
Prime Minister
Winston Churchill who comes up with a compromise. Any future monarch of
England and Scotland should use the highest numbering applicable in both
countries combined, so that a King James would be James VIII (following on
from Scotland's James VII) and a Henry would be Henry IX (following on from
England's Henry VIII).

1955

Duke
Albert (Albrecht) becomes the head of the House of Wittelsbach in
Bavaria
and is also now the senior member of the House of Stuart. During his
lifetime he is considered by modern Jacobites to be the rightful ruler of
England,
Scotland, and
Ireland.
Albert himself does not make any claim to the English throne.

The
UK Continental Shelf Act comes into force in May 1964. North Sea oil fields
are quickly discovered and exploited, and Aberdeen forms the mainland base
for distribution, gaining it the nickname 'Oil Capital of Europe'.

Devolution gives Scotland back a parliament of its own to handle its
internal affairs. The Scottish Parliament operates from Holyrood in Edinburgh
in a purpose-built construction which takes four years to complete, opening
in 2004.

2016

The
UK takes the
rather bizarre decision to isolate itself from the largest single trading
market in the world by voting by a slim majority to leave the European Union.
The vote on 23 June results in the
Prime Minister,
David Cameron, resigning his position as the defeated leader of the 'remain'
campaign, leaving the path open for the controversial figure of Boris Johnson
to take over. Several million EU citizens who live and work in the UK - as
well as millions who work with EU businesses from the UK - are left with
years of uncertainty about their futures while Scotland plans a new
independence referendum with a view to reapplying for EU membership.